By STEVE BRICKLER
GLENS FALLS, N.Y.– When you get far into a sectional or state tournament bracket, you tend to run into teams that are very similar to yourself. Any variation from the usual flow of how you play the game can be a major disruption. Irondequoit collided with that disruption when star guard Ryan Heath ran into foul trouble, changing the tenor of the game as Tappan Zee of Section I took advantage, outscoring the Eagles 31-14 in the second half, winning the NYSPHSAA Class A title 49-36, Saturday night at Cool Insuring Arena.
Heath picked up his second foul, both on charging calls, with 3:38 to play in the second quarter, forcing him to the bench for the rest of the half. His third foul came with 5:34 left in the third quarter, causing him to sit the remainder of that quarter as well.
“It hurt when you have a player as good player as any in the area picking up his second and then his third foul, that really changed a lot,” Irondequoit head coach Chris Cardon said. “You could see the guys’ heads kind of go down. We tried to stay upbeat. Our defense is our calling card but with Ryan going out it takes away a lot of our offense. They (Tappan Zee) stepped up. They kind of were like sharks in the water. They smelled the blood in the water when he went out and they outplayed us.”
Early on, it looked as if things were going to be business as usual for the Eagles. Having a slight size advantage, the Eagles were able to convert down low and on second-chance opportunities with Xavier Gissendanner knocking in four points and Isaiah Ballard two, while Quinn VanKerkhove provided a three to open a 9-5 first quarter lead.
Ballard continued to have the hot hand for the Eagles early in the second, converting 2 more field goals down low and a 6-2 run led by Heath and Gissendanner mid-quarter extended the Eagles lead to eight points, its largest of the game at 19-11. Heath picked up his second foul with the Eagles holding a 19-14 edge but they held the Dutchmen to four points for the remainder of the half while Gissendanner provided a three to push the Eagles to a 22-18 halftime advantage.
In the third quarter, Tappan Zee tightened the screws defensively holding the Eagles to only four points over the eight minutes, both on short jumpers from Gissendanner as Heath’s absence started to be felt. The Eagles trailed 27-26 late in the third quarter when the Dutchmen went on a game deciding 15-0 run to end the third and open the fourth quarters. The trio of Sean Berrigan, Tommy Linehan and Jack Maloney scored all of the points for the entire game for the Dutchmen, scoring 20, 11 and 18 points respectively. In fact, they took all of the Dutchmen’s shot attempts except for two over the entirety of the game. The Eagles found it difficult to get open looks the entire second half, and when they did, they were unable to convert.
In the fourth, Heath converted a three-point play to break the Dutchmen’s run but the Eagles could climb no closer than 11 in the final quarter. Tappan Zee was able to convert at the rim with a little more regularity late in the game and drained enough free throws to keep Irondequoit at bay.
“They were a really hard-nosed team,” Cardon said. “They were physical and ran their stuff well. They played like the way I knew they could play. They’re very skilled, play well together and their defense was very good.
“I think we played with good effort and then we got frustrated and we didn’t make shots. You’ve got to make shots. Other than Isaiah early and Xavier, we really didn’t have a lot of scoring. I’m down for the guys but they have memories that will last for a lifetime. I know I have memories that will last for a lifetime.”
The loss ended the 37-year coaching career of Cardon. The Hall of Fame coach finishes with 523 career wins. Said Cardon after the game, “I’ll take some time to be able to do some stuff I haven’t been able to do, but I’ll be back helping somewhere sometime in the future. Basketball is in my blood.”
Gissendanner led the Eagles with 18 points. Heath added seven points. Ballard (6), VanKerkhove (3) and Aiden Greco (2) rounded out the scoring for the Eagles who finished with a record of 22-5.
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